


If You Had the Chance

by HydraCarnival



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Harry Potter was Raised by Sirius Black, Minor Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Multi, Sirius Black Lives, in the first few chapters at least, so in addition
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-18 00:04:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15473049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HydraCarnival/pseuds/HydraCarnival
Summary: A HP re-write in which Sirius chooses to let someone else catch Peter, allowing him to stay out of Azkaban and raise Harry.





	If You Had the Chance

**Author's Note:**

> This is just the prologue, more coming soon :) Characters, relationships, and additional tags will be added as the story progresses. I decided to play around with a few major plot elements, but as this is by nature a re-write I am allowed to do that! I don't have a beta so of course all mistakes are my own. None of these characters or major themes belong to me, just the ideas pertinent to my own rendition. Please leave feedback if you enjoy! 
> 
> Also, yes, the title of the work and the prologue are from Brave.

It was as primal an instinct as fight or flight. The feeling in Sirius’ gut when Peter was gone from his safe house told him what he would find in Godric’s Hollow. He was about to take off in search of the traitor when a large man came out of the ruins. In his arms was a tiny baby. James’ son. Harry Potter. The child was sleeping so peacefully it would have been easy to leave him behind without second thought or backwards glance. But the in the moment he looked down at his godson and noticed the freshly searing mark on his forehead, his instinct for love outweighed that of hate. He had promised James and Lily to watch and protect Harry no matter what. 

“I’m coming with you.”

The words escaped his mouth before he even knew he had decided to say them. 

It had been exceedingly difficult to convince Dumbledore to let Sirius take Harry home. He agreed that Grimmauld Place was not currently adequate for a child to grow up in, but he asked for some time to fix it up before Harry would be stuck with the muggles forever. 

Dumbledore told Sirius he would be allowed to retrieve Harry on his second birthday under a set of strict rules and stipulations. He went to work immediately. 

He had made the right decision. After a few weeks Peter Pettigrew was found and placed on trial. Sirius expected that his sputtering confession was a result of the same weak mind that made him susceptible to Voldemort in the first place. The things he revealed under veritaserum and through memories collected for pensive viewing were enough to put many, if not all, of Voldemort’s accomplices in Azkaban as well. 

Sirius was finally trusted as Harry’s caretaker when he gave Dumbledore the curious locket that Kreature had been hiding. One final Order mission had been conducted to retrieve another similar locket that the house elf hadn’t stopped yammering about. Sirius thought the mission was stupid, partially because Dumbledore hadn’t let him help and partially because they were assured that the locket Kreature already had was the important one. But Dumbledore had made a promise to him that if they were allowed to take the locket and destroy it, they would return the one Kreature wanted. 

It had been difficult to learn what happened to Regulus. When Kreature had the locket securely around his neck he was nicer to Sirius, yes, but it was incredibly hard to hear what had happened. The hardest thing was knowing the person his brother became. Knowing that he never got to know that version of him. But he was proud. Sirius would have liked to tell his brother that. He left R.A.B.’s room untouched. Out of respect for the man he never truly knew, and for Kreature’s sake. Sirius didn’t admit it often, but he enjoyed having a loyal house elf. 

Remus and some other members of the Order offered many times to help him clean the house. He enjoyed their company in the evenings, but he liked doing the work himself. The first thing he did was remove the family tree mural. And then all the portraits of his family, besides Regulus and Phineas. 

He painted the house with rich jewel tones. Ruby, sapphire, amber, and emerald. He wanted Harry to be surrounded by color rather than the grayscale he had grown up with. Ruby of course was inspired by Gryffindor, as was the amber, and emerald was homage to his brother. He added the blue tones because amber could have just as easily represented Hufflepuff and he felt bad leaving Ravenclaw out. He wanted Harry to have no doubt that he would accept any house he wound up in, another difference from his own childhood. 

The first level of the home was fitted with the kitchen and formal dining and living for important adult business and dinner parties that Sirius had grown to love during his time with the Potters as a teenager. The next level had a comfortable living room and a smaller dining table where he and Harry could eat all of their meals. The third level had Harry’s nursery and several other guest rooms, as did the fourth floor. Sirius renovated the attic to be his room because he didn’t want to stay in his old room or in the former master bedroom. He made sure the nursery had a very comfortable chaise as he knew he would have trouble being far from Harry most nights. 

Harry’s second birthday had been a treat. He went with Dumbledore to pick him up in Little Whinging and the muggles sad but the slightest hair of glumness hidden beneath the layers of glee that Harry would no longer be their responsibility. 

And Sirius could not have been happier himself to have been given the same responsibility.


End file.
